Lahore’s tourism industry, which had become accustomed to seeing foreign visitors until the end of May, has recently been hit hard by temperatures that are 9°C above average.
Pakistan’s Lahore – When temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius in Punjab state’s capital city, his clients from Eastern Europe advised tour operator Adil Lahorei that it was time to quickly depart for the north.
Pakistan experienced the warmest April in 61 years in May. Since 1961, March has been nine times as dry. The heatwave indicated that Lahore’s customary spring season had already started to reveal signs of peak summer.
According to Adil, a few days in Lahore are typically included in the travel plans of foreign visitors. Some even travel to Punjab’s southern regions before returning to the north a week or two later. However, this year’s visitors—some of whom arrived as early as March—wanted to head straight for the mountains.
Authorities in Pakistan issued alerts saying temperatures up to nine degrees Celsius above average were anticipated. As a result, Lahore’s tourism sector, which had become accustomed to receiving foreign tourists till the end of May, was severely shaken.
While rising temperatures have driven tourists from Lahore, they are increasingly being drawn to the north because of the region’s cooler temperatures as well as the earlier-than-normal opening of tourist attractions caused by glaciers melting early in the season. Numerous lakes, parks, and other picturesque locations are accessible to travellers after passes like Babusar, Deosai, and Khunjerab are made passable.
“Khunjerab Pass opening at this time of year used to be unheard of. However, the northern regions’ tourism season is beginning earlier due to global warming. For the summer, I only have one tourist inquiry for Lahore,” Adil remarked.
According to tour operator Adil Lahorei, visitors who arrived in April and March wanted to head to the mountains immediately due to the heat. Al Jazeera’s Kunwar Khuldune Shahid
Knockout Punch for Pakistan
Lahore, the second-largest city in Pakistan and only 25 kilometres (12 miles) from the Indian border, has long been a centre of culture. Its architectural legacy pays homage to the British and the Mughals, two of the many tyrants who have ruled this highly sought-after region. But the long-standing desire of tourists from around the world to delve into Lahore’s fascinating past has been thwarted by crisis after crisis.
The city and the rest of the nation were both hammered by a wave of devastating attacks following the September 11 strikes on the United States. After extensive military operations, a modicum of security returned, bringing with it a surge in tourists.
“At the conclusion of the previous decade, tourism started to increase in Pakistan, and particularly in Lahore. However, COVID-19 then attacked,” Adil said.
The coronavirus pandemic shocked the world’s tourism economy, but it was another knockout blow for Pakistan, which had just recently started to recover. Despite the nation’s largely successful COVID-19 response, Lahore received a climate wake-up call from the pandemic.
‘Most Polluted City’
Clearer sky during lockdowns highlighted the damage that the city’s daily industry-transportation churn was causing, as a yearly smog fest rendered the air unbreathable during the transition from autumn to winter. When Lahore ranks as the world’s most polluted city in November and December, tourism understandably suffers.
According to Tauqeer Qureshi, a former director of Punjab’s Environmental Protection Department, “Lahore is an excellent example in case anyone wants to look at harmful impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.”
According to Qureshi, Pakistan’s environmental problems and subsequent difficulties with tourism are being made worse by the failure to put environmental legislation into action and a lack of political will.
Environmentalist Saima Baig claimed that as long as industrial pollutants, the burning of crop leftovers, brick kilns, and general trash go unchecked, Lahore’s problem will not be resolved.
“All of these can be reversed with good environmental policies that fine industries for emissions, work with farmers to stop them from burning fields and find alternatives, and a more effective and efficient waste management policy,” she told Al Jazeera.
“The nation’s comprehensive climate policy should include encouraging the use of electric automobiles and maintaining existing vehicles. Even though solar energy is now being promoted, it is crucial to look at other renewable technologies, such as wind and even wave energy, in order to combat climate change.
‘A Green Revolution’
The upper deck of the hop-on hop-off city tour buses operated by the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) is the best place to depict Lahore’s climate crisis.
The multiple environmental issues Lahore is facing have an impact on ticket sales for the double-decker bus, according to TDCP’s public relations officer Abid Shaukat.
The finest viewing is on the upper deck that is outside. But as early as March, many people choose the lower, enclosed, air-conditioned deck because they find the top heck to be too hot to sit in. Similar to this, many people don’t want to be on the upper deck when there is haze.
Expert in tourism development Ashfaq Khan recalled that the weather was stressed as the main issue during his four decades of studies in Europe.
But Lahore’s urban development is being done in a way that seems to be intentionally escalating the effects of climate change, according to Khan.
“More cement is being built in place of the green countryside. Every time I welcome my guests to the City of Gardens, I feel ashamed, he admitted to Al Jazeera.
“Every Pakistani citizen ought to plant a tree. A green revolution is necessary for the nation. If we don’t establish clear priorities, neither tourism nor anything else in the nation will thrive.
Expert in tourism development Ashfaq Khan recalled that the weather was stressed as the main issue during his four decades of studies in Europe.
But Lahore’s urban development is being done in a way that seems to be intentionally escalating the effects of climate change, according to Khan.
“More cement is being built in place of the green countryside. Every time I welcome my guests to the City of Gardens, I feel ashamed, he admitted to Al Jazeera.
“Every Pakistani citizen ought to plant a tree. A green revolution is necessary for the nation. If we don’t establish clear priorities, neither tourism nor anything else in the nation will thrive.
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